Category Archives: Guatemala

Flores, Back to Guatemala City, then home

Guatemala, Travel, , , , ,

Mar 6 – We’ve enjoyed our week’s respite in beautiful Flores, walking the town and the hills behind us on the peninsula, which we found was called San Miguel.

Jim discovered a network of trails that promised a scenic overlook from El Mirador.

In addition to the view, we found a big rock. Little did we know, this was an artifact of Tayasal, another ancient Mayan site with its own grand plaza and pyramid, that was rediscovered in the 1920s and studied by archeologists from the University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s. Right up the hill from our hotel! We were the only ones there.

The carving on the rock below depicts a human figure sitting cross legged on a mask with a bar in his left hand. Can you see it? Me neither…

Next door to our hotel lives a parrot, who perches on the veranda and wolf whistles at all the passers by.

We heard a marching band right under our hotel window, and rushed out to see a parade in honor of the local Quinceañeras (coming of age party for 15 year old girls)

We’ve become enamored of a little panderia in town with an enthusiastic baker who let us sample her wares before selecting. On our last day in Flores, we asked if we could take her photo. You can see her shoulder as she quickly ran to hide behind the door!

Adios, Flores!

Mar 7 – Remember how many hours we spent on buses to get us from the south to the north of Guatemala? Our return trip to Guatemala City took exactly one hour, thanks to the regional airport in Flores. Yay!

In typical American style, we got to the airport two hours before our flight was scheduled. In typical Guatemalan relaxed fashion, we sat in the terminal looking at our empty plane until the pilot arrived, about ten minutes after we were supposed to take off. Then the young woman who administered our boarding passes shrugged into an orange vest and walked us out to the plane. Remember planes like these?

When we were all inside, she checked that everyone had a seat belt, then she left. The pilot got up and locked the hatch. When was the last time you got to watch the pilot fly the plane?

It was my job to make sure the left propeller kept turning.

In an hour we were back in Guatemala City, and ten minutes later at our hostal, a beautiful home with a lovely garden in the heart of the city. There are no restaurants nearby, so our host showed us a little shop around the corner where the proprietor cooks a delicious meal for those who had reserved. We had a lovely supper with a couple from Minnesota, a man from Hamburg, and a woman from France. A great ending to our adventure.

We were up at 6 and at the airport at 7 for our flight to Atlanta, where Customs was so slow that we ended up sprinting through terminal B to make our connection with three minutes to spare. Happy to say we made it, and we are back home safe and sound. Til next time!

Tikal – Yax Mutal

Guatemala, Travel, , , , , ,

Mar 2 – Got up early this morning for the 90 minute ride to Tikal, the huge site of Mayan ruins in the rainforest that was discovered in the 1840s, and is still in the very early stages of being uncovered and restored – about 15% uncovered since work began in the 1950s.

The place was originally called Yax Mutal (Yosh Moo-TALL) by the folks who lived here, and pottery uncovered dates back to 1000 BCE. There is no waterway, so the complex includes 10 huge reservoirs to collect rainwater during the rainy season and distribute it to grow crops and sustain the 90,000 people who once lived here. By 900 CE, they were all gone, probable victims of drought and warfare.

Here is what a pyramid looks like before the archeologists start digging:

Here’s one in the process of being uncovered:

Our guide Luis shared his passion for the history of Yax Mutal with us. If he looks familiar, it’s because he appeared on Survivor: Guatemala – The Maya Empire, when an episode was shot near Tikal. I’ll have to look for the episode when I get home.

The howler monkeys made a huge racket up in the trees – if you didn’t know better you would swear it was the roar of a T Rex!

We also saw spider monkeys and a coatimundi.

The temples are laid out so they line up with the sun on the equinoxes and solstices. Very mathematically precise.

Below is the latest building uncovered. See how the stone is still white on the bottom where it’s just been exposed?

These are the altars and stiles thought to have been used for sacrifices. They are arranged in groups of nine.

From the top of Perdido Mundo (the lost world), you have a 360 degree view of other temples in the distance.

A face has been uncovered at the Temple of Masks. Can you see it?

Another carving – not sure what it represents:We befriended Sue from Bristol UK, who climbed up and down the pyramids with us.

Fascinating, very hot 🥵 , experience of a lifetime!

More from Flores

Guatemala, Travel, ,

Mar 1 – Today we explored a bit of our peninsula. When folks talk about Flores, they are usually referring to the island across Lago Petén Itzál, but because we are staying on the peninsula, I’ll make the distinction.

There are little tiendas (shops) here for the townspeople, mostly chips, snacks and sodas, but nothing to appeal to travelers. We saw some wildlife:

A playground (creative things to do with tires):

A statue:Hmmm… that was about it.

On Google Maps I saw a restaurant about a ten minute walk down the shore. Doña Rosa got five stars from the locals for serving the best pescado blanco (white fish) around. It is the specialty here, proudly caught in the lake. We decided to check it out for lunch.

We followed the directions, but could see no restaurant. We asked, and were told to open a gate and go into a yard. Inside a hut we found Rosa. She showed us three different sizes of fish, and asked us to choose which one we wanted. Then she shooed us out to sit at a table looking out over the lake. Twenty minutes later, our fish was presented, steamed in foil with vegetables, and served with salad and fresh tortillas.

Delicious! Thanks Google Maps!

Here is the sunset from our veranda. A person could get used to living here..

Flores

Guatemala, Travel, ,

Feb 27 – This morning we rose early to catch the pickup truck back to Lanquín. I managed to finagle myself into the cab seat next to the driver while Jim and eleven others stood in the back, but it was still a pretty thrilling ride. In Lanquín, we were separated by destination to board the mini-buses. Unfortunately , there were 32 people traveling to Flores, and only one 15 passenger bus going there. After much hand waving and histrionics, a second bus was obtained, and two extra seats were added to the aisle of our bus. It all worked out, but we got a late start and were packed cheek to jowl for the whole day. I sat with two girls from Israel, and Jim was sandwiched behind me between a young man from Stuttgart and an older woman from France.

It will take nine hours for the 97 mile ride to Flores. For such a small country, it sure takes a long time to cross it! Flores, in the department (province) of Petén, will be the northernmost part of our adventure, where we plan to visit the Mayan ruins at Tikal.

The driver stopped every three hours so we could eat and stretch our legs. It is now officially 🥵 hot. Then we got an extra, unexpected break. We pulled into a queue of cars, buses and trucks sitting idle. The driver indicated that we could get out and roam around, as we had to wait our turn for the ferry. It was only a little spit of water, but there was no bridge, so we waited for this ferry, powered by two outboard motors, that could take about six vehicles across at a time.

I felt badly for the trucks of cattle, squished together (so they wouldn’t fall over) in the hot sun. After half an hour’s wait, it was our turn.

We arrived by 6pm. All the kids headed off to the two hostels on Flores island. We are the only ones staying at Casa de Grethel, which is just across the water on the peninsula, and only accessible by boat. We knew to call our host, and he came and picked us up in his little skiff. He will ferry us back and forth for free as long as we are here.

A view of Flores island from our restaurant on the pier

Feb 28 – After a leisurely breakfast, we took the skiff over to explore Flores island. Here’s the view of our hotel from the water. They call the little pier “the beach” as you can jump in the water to swim there. This is on our list of things to do.

Flores island is itty bitty, filled with hotels, hostels, tourist agents and restaurants to serve the people who come to see the ruins at Tikal, which is a 90 minute drive from here.

In our walk around the island, we found pretty flowers:

Interestingly colorful painted buildings:

Some wall art:

Some wall art in progress:And a church!

Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, Our Lady of the Remedies

We found the ATM, a place to eat lunch, and the panderia (bakery) for tomorrow’s breakfast. On our way back to the dock, we passed a masseuse with a cute mascot:

An altogether delightful day!

More from Semuc Champey

Guatemala, Travel,

Feb 25 – After our strenuous adventure yesterday, today was a day to relax. We took a morning walk up the road and along the river. Beautiful flowers and mountain views.

We encountered natives on foot who asked where we were going. Just walking, was our reply. I imagine they don’t often just walk – if they set out, they have a destination in mind.

Spent some time in our hammock overlooking the river, reading and snoozing. Watched a bunch of kids tubing down on the current, drinking beer at 10 in the morning (you get a free beer when you sign up for the tubing), hooting as they floated past the women washing laundry in the river. What a world of contrasts we live in.

Nice lunch, and a swim in the afternoon. All days should be like this one.

Feb 26 – Ditto the exciting events of yesterday. We are very relaxed here.

What is the plant below? I’ve never seen a pod like this on a tree.

This is the nicest place we’ve stayed, with a resort atmosphere and ample friendly staff, 100% Guatemaya, as it proudly says on the sign. We don’t miss not knowing the news of the world for a few days. Viva Semuc Champey!

Lanquín – Semuc Champey

Guatemala, Travel, ,

Feb 23 – We walked to the bus station in Cobán, where we were accosted by different bus drivers, all eager to take us to Lanquín. Jim picked the guy with the bus idling in front, as it looked like it was ready to depart. As soon as we got on, the driver jumped in, parked the bus and turned off the motor, telling us we’d leave in an hour. Gotcha!

He was a very nice driver, and we spent the hour teaching each other words in English and Maya, using Spanish as our bridge. There are 23 different Mayan languages, and more than 95 dialects – I have no idea which language we were practicing. I wish I could remember even one Mayan word to share with you, but vocabulary doesn’t stick for me unless I can hear it and see it repeatedly. It had lots of x and guttural sounds – nothing at all like Spanish. He said he had twin girls, and took out his phone to show me a picture of just one little girl. Two, he said, just like that one. (Ha!)

This ride took only two hours to cover the 32 miles to Lanquín, nicely paved until the last half hour, when the road turned to dirt and got bumpy. We were the only gringos. The bus stopped frequently for natives with big bundles waiting at the side of the road – ladies with bags of watermelon, baskets of produce, men with sacks of corn meal and rice. A mattress was added to the roof of the bus. Unlike the dry dusty route to Cobán, we are traveling up and down lush, green mountains. This is the jungle.

As we approached Lanquín, a guy speaking rapid English got on and told us we had to come with him right now if we wanted to get to our hostal at Semuc Champey, which was another 7 miles down the bumpy dirt road. Our plan was to have lunch in Lanquín before tackling the last leg of the journey. The tout was very pushy – you want lunch? Here’s a nice place. I tell you this for free. Eat, and then we go. What do you want?

We managed to have a nice enough lunch (chicken, rice and mixed vegetables) then the guy came back and told us he was leaving in five minutes. Unlike other places where lots of drivers vie for your business, he appeared to be the only game in town. He flung our packs into the back of a pickup truck, then indicated that WE were to get in the back as well! Not what I was expecting!

We stood up in the back, clutching the bars and holding on for dear life as the truck jounced through potholes in the dirt road and careened down the mountain. Forty five minutes to ride the seven miles to Semuc Champey – longest roller coaster ride ever!

The last bit was going over a bridge with a surface of wooden boards, several of which were missing. Will ours be the truck that doesn’t make it? This ain’t Disneyland.

Finally, we arrived at Hostal El Portal Champey, where we were given our own little thatched roof hut with a hammock overlooking the Rio Cahabon, where little boys jump from a big rock. There is a pool and a restaurant here. No WiFi, no hot water, and electricity only from 6 to 10 pm, when they turn the generator on. Perfect weather. Heaven!

Feb 24 – I must say that last night was the best sleep I’ve had in weeks. So quiet! Most of the young partying travelers stay in Lanquín and only come here for one day. Our place is more like a resort, catering to families and even some oldsters like us from all around the world. So many languages heard in the restaurant!

We looked at the group tour itinerary on the wall at reception:

10:00 Climb mountain

11:00 Swim in crystal pools

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Hike to waterfall

14:00 Explore underwater caves

15:00 Tube down river

I wore myself out just typing that. We’re here for four days – we can take it slow (and definitely skip the underwater caves). Today we will walk two minutes down to the Semuc Champey national park, and see what all the fuss is about. Semuc Champey means “where the river hides under the stones” in Mayan. The entrance fee is pretty pricey for this country, about $7.50 US per person. The trails are well marked, and there is no reason to hire a guide, although several offered their services.

While the morning was relatively cool, we tackled the mountain hike up to the scenic overlook. It’s supposed to take 30 minutes. The path up alternates between rock scrabbling and steep steps. It took me almost an hour, moving uphill in first gear. We met a family with two young girls, Arwen and Caterina. The dad, David, had good English and talked to Jim for a while. He was familiar with Tidewater, Virginia! As Jim got farther and farther ahead of me, David called out to him, “Jim! You are forgetting something! Jim, where is your wife?”

I finally reached the overlook, and it was indeed pretty spectacular – deep blue pools, rimmed with white stone, and lots of people taking advantage of the cool water. Now to climb back down so we can jump in!

After another hour, we are down at water level. The pools are surrounded by jagged, slippery limestone, impossible to walk barefoot. There was a changing area, and we put on our bathing suits and removed our boots. Jim had flip flops, which just skidded out on the slippery rock. I had better luck with my Keen sandals. We finally got to the edge and jumped in. Pure heaven – cool and deep and perfect for a noon swim. We stayed in for about an hour, thinking of the folks on the tour who did not have this luxury of time.

We got dressed and ate our sandwiches for lunch, then hiked the rest of the trail. What a beautiful place.

After walking home and taking a swim in the pool, we went back down the road to the native comida we saw this morning. Women grilling chicken and pork on an open air stove and slapping out tortillas, children selling homemade chocolate wrapped in foil, dogs and pigs staying nearby to catch any scraps that might be tossed their way.

Yes, Piggy, you will be dinner one day soon…

We met a guy from Switzerland and his girlfriend from Indonesia, who were traveling across the country by motorbike. Yikes! They said the going was slow due to the unpaved roads, and I totally understood.

I am writing without benefit of WiFi. I’ll post when we return to civilization. More tomorrow.

A Little More From Cobán

Guatemala, Travel, ,

Feb 22 – Today we walked around town, caught up on laundry and ran errands – traveling is hard work! We read up on our next destination, Semuc Champey, and visited the ATM after reading that there is no place to get money there, and credit cards are not accepted.

Friday is the day for the flower market on the main street.

Plenty of other stuff on offer too.

Turkey dinner, anyone?

Of course we stopped into the Catedral Cobán, which looked much like the other churches we’ve seen here, except no one was praying inside.

This church had a good variety of lady statues:

It also boasted some very sad Jesuses.

Cobán’s version of the Liberty Bell? There was no story to be read about this bell, so I guess we’ll never know.

For those who wonder why we visit so many Catholic churches:

a) pretty much every town has one

b) it is usually the most notable building in the center of town

c) it is usually open and welcomes you inside

d) in a town without a museum, it may be the only place you can visit

e) whatever the language, we understand the story

In the interest of equal time, here is the church of the Seventh Day Adventists. It was pretty, but not open.

Some wall art in the making

A round town square

Feb 23 – This morning we will catch the bus for the two to three hour ride to Lanquin, then on to Semuc Champey. We will be staying at a hostel with no hot water, no WiFi, and daily electricity for only four hours in the evening. Will we live to tell the tale? Tune in next week to find out!

Cobán

Guatemala, Travel, , , , ,

Feb 20 – We got up early to wait for the bus that will take us the 75 miles from Panajachel to Cobán. The Trip is advertised to take nine hours at a minimum. We sat on Calle Santander, watching the shopkeepers set up their stalls for the day.

The tuk-tuks were out in force, trawling for fares.

We were the last ones on the bus, so Jim got to sit up front with the driver. I was not so lucky, squeezing behind him into a tiny seat with a hump where the legroom should be.

There is no highway north, so the bus followed local roads through dusty little towns, and bumpy dirt road roads through the mountains. It felt like we never went more than 20 mph or got past second gear.

The driver stopped every three hours so we could stretch our legs and answer calls of nature. The place we stopped for lunch served grilled sausages and cheese tacos – pretty good!

First stop on the mountainside
Second stop – shoulder rolls needed!

We stopped several times due to road construction, which allowed all the young smokers to jump off the bus for a quick cigarette. Why do young people smoke? Our driver knew his way around every pothole and speed bump. He says he does this route every day for 15 days, back and forth, 12 hours a day, before he gets a day off.

By 5pm we reached Cobán, a good sized city that is not on the tourist trail. We were the only ones to get off the bus here – the kids are all headed straight to the caves and pools of Semuc Champey. We are staying at Casa Serena, a lovely B & B on the outskirts of town. We have hot and cold water – it’s the first time we’ve seen two knobs on the faucet for a while!

Feb 21 – Roosters! Jim picked this hotel for its advertised quiet, but no one informed the roosters next door, who kept up an all-night competition. Don’t they know they’re supposed to crow after the sun comes up?

The breakfast offered at our place was a little pricey, so we set out for a desayuno tipico in town. The woman running the comida offered us only one option, so we said yes. I asked for coffee with milk, but she had no milk. She offered café something-I-did-not-catch, so we said okay to that too. The coffee was sweet and thick with spices and some sort of grain stirred in. Very good! The breakfast was good too – scrambled eggs, black beans with crema (sort of like mayonnaise? sour cream?), a white cheese and tortillas fresh off the grill.

We are here in Cobán to see the orchid farm, which is several miles out of town, so we took a taxi – no Uber here. The Orquigonia was founded in 2008, and is trying to collect all the varieties of orchids that grow in Guatemala. So far they have collected 450 varieties out of the 4000 possible. Our guide Fernando took us on a private tour.

Most of the orchids native to Guatemala are miniature – Fernando gave us each a magnifying glass so we could see them properly. He told us there are three kinds, orchids that grow from the rock, from the tree or from the ground.

This one is called the dancing octopus:

So many colors!

I saw a huge fern – Fernando said that the part we call the fiddlehead, they call the monkey’s tail.

We traded English vs. Spanish names for things – I wish my horticultural knowledge was deeper, and that my Spanish was better. A lovely, quiet, shady way to spend a hot day.

This is the national flower of Guatemala, the monja blanca (white nun)

Bulbs only produce one flower per year.

Lake Atitlán – Panajachel Again

Guatemala, Travel

Feb 17 – Our plan was to take the lancha across the lake from San Pedro to Panajachel, then hop on a bus for the nine hour drive to Cobán. Unfortunately, the Guatemalan equivalent of Montezuma’s Revenge caught up with us, so we are spending a few extra days in Panajachel while Jim recovers, eating a bland diet of white rice and boiled potatoes, before attempting the long road trip north.

Here’s the local supermarket, where we stocked up on rice and potatoes. Don’t know what the occasion was, but there was a barker, plenty of loud music, and a dancing mascot.

As you definitely don’t want the details of our recuperation, I’ll share that we completed all our souvenir shopping by strolling Calle Santander and bargaining hard for presents for the grandkids. (Historically, they are underwhelmed by whatever we bring home.) I saw a lovely scarf, and was proud of getting the price down from 60 quetzales to 33, until we walked to the next shop where the same scarf was displayed for 25. I’m embarrassed to report that later in the afternoon, we saw it for 10! I am a very bad haggler.

Eliese and Janice – look at this lovely quilt:

Our other plan was to take all the goodies we purchased to the post office and ship them home so we wouldn’t have to lug them around for the next several weeks. Guess what? Guatemala hasn’t had a postal service in three years! Any service, anywhere in the entire country, since 2016! From what we can gather, the private company contract for the country’s mail services ended in 2016, and the government declined to renew or renegotiate it. So, no mail within or out of the country, period.

Ever resourceful, we googled other options and found a DHL Express office in town. The cost to ship home our paltry little box of cheap souvenirs would be over $120 US! A fellow blogger related his solution when faced with this issue – he took a bus to El Salvador, stayed overnight at a hotel, shipped his box from there and then bused back to Guatemala, saving considerable money over what the DHL charges would have been. Bravo for his resourcefulness, but I think we’re just going to lug our trinkets around. Our grandkids better appreciate them!

A Day of Unexpected Thingsq

Guatemala, Travel, , ,

Feb 9 – When we awoke this morning we still had no electricity thanks to last night’s wind storm, but it didn’t affect us too much: the stove runs on propane, so the coffee was hot and the breakfast was delicious as always. The plants and chairs up on the terrace all blew over, but these things are easily fixed.

After breakfast, our host Sara let us know that the booking we thought we had made for four additional days at Casa Kaktus did not go through properly (it showed up in March instead of February – this has happened before on booking.com), and we would have to leave, as they are all booked up. Drat! She suggested we try La Casa Rosa, a regular hotel right on the lake that might have a room. Unfortunately, there is no other place in Santa Cruz that has a kitchen that guests can use. And we just bought four nights worth of groceries! Sara graciously offered to let us continue to use the kitchen, even though we would not be sleeping there. So nice.

Gracious hosts Sara (originally from England) and Ever.

La Casa Rosa is run by a native family, and is a lovely place, with lush gardens and seating right on the lake. We secured a room with a private bath. We’ll miss the camaraderie of Casa Kaktus and the daily breakfasts, but I think we’ll be okay.

Remember our little dinner party last night? When Jim was slicing vegetables for his spaghetti sauce, he sliced his thumb pretty badly. He bandaged it up and carried on bravely, but when he took the bandage off this morning it started bleeding again like crazy. Our host Ever tried to butterfly bandage it, but suggested we go to the clinic up in town to have it seen to properly. Jim pooh-poohed the idea, saying he was fine.

We settled our stuff at La Casa Rosa, then walked up the big hill to the Mayan town for lunch. A chicken joined us for part of the journey.More delicious native food at the CECAP restaurant, Cafe Sabor Cruceño, where the workers are all native and the profits go the education and skills training of the local community. After our meal, Jim thought it might be a good idea to check out the clinic after all.

We walked in, and the building appeared empty. We hallooed, and a man walked out of an office. Are you open today? (It is Saturday.) Of course, he replied. Come in – I am the doctor. He unwrapped Jim’s thumb, cleaned the wound and declared that sutures were needed. He and Jim kept up a genial conversation in Spanish while he worked. The doctor is 27 years old, educated in Guatemala at the University in Quetzaltenango. He is not married. Yes, he would like to visit the US someday, but doubts that he could get a visa. Yes, the clinic is open seven days a week.

Before too long, the sutures were in, Jim was given a tetanus shot, a week’s worth of antibiotics, and some extra strength acetaminophen for pain. How much did we pay for this excellent care? You guessed it – when they say free clinic, they mean it.

We relaxed at our new home for the rest of the afternoon, then walked back to Casa Kaktus to heat up our leftover spaghetti, and catch up with Monica and Mary. And the electricity came back on!

We returned to La Casa Rosa to sit at the lakeshore and watch the sunset.

Not the way we planned to spend the day, but very nice nonetheless.

Feb 10 – Jim spent a restless night and was in considerable pain this morning as his thumb starts to heal, so today we will stay local and take only a short walk to visit the Enchanted Forest here in Santa Cruz.

We walked along the lakeshore for a while.

Then uphill into the trees.

The path meandered past several grand houses in the hills, all behind walls and locked gates. When we could go no further, we turned around and walked back down.

We passed some native women in their traditional dress. Ever told us that all the women dress traditionally here, and there is no traditional attire for the men.

As we came back to the shore, we saw some native wooden boats.

This place has been changed drastically by the coming of the tourists in the last twenty years. I hope we don’t ruin it.